Trending
YOUNGSTOWN -- Two Vienna police officers and the township are named in a federal lawsuit filed in U.S. Northern Ohio District Court that accuses them of false arrest and excess force over separate incidents that occurred in late 2019 and early 2020.
The lawsuit was filed by Tammy and Kenneth Cogswell of Warren Sharon Road and is being heard by U.S. Judge Benita Y. Pearson, who has set up a schedule of hearings and deadlines for lawyers in the case. Depositions must be filed before Sept. 2 and a telephone status conference is set for June 3 before the judge.
Named as defendants in the lawsuit are Sgt. Scot Pringle and officer Brandon Shuler of the Vienna Police Department.
The lawsuit also mentions that Tammy Cogswell is the sister of Tarin Brown, a former Mathews school board president and outspoken critic of Vienna officials. Brown once unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Trustee Phil Pegg in an election and used this public platform to expose corruption, particularly within the Vienna Police Department, the lawsuit alleges.
One of the lawsuit's 10 claims listed a civil conspiracy, as the actions against Brown were done in retaliation against the family for Brown's public position.
According to the suit, filed by attorney Sarah Kovoor, Pringle responded to a call Nov. 25, 2019, at the Cogswell home over a dispute involving a $30 advance that was not repaid to the Cogswells by a former babysitter. Pringle told Tammy Cogswell that the $30 was a civil matter, but the issue of an abandoned notebook by the former babysitter at the home was not.
When Tammy Cogswell told the sergeant she did not have the notebook, Pringle said she was going to be arrested. He placed the woman in handcuffs and placed her in the back of his cruiser. The lawsuit notes he did so roughly and with excessive force.
She was charged with a first-degree misdemeanor of theft, and issued a court summons and released from the back of the cruiser after being detained for more than 10 minutes, the report states.
SECOND INCIDENT
The lawsuit mentioned a second incident Jan. 14, 2020, at the Cogswell home in which the Cogswells' 19-year-old disabled grandson allegedly threatened to harm himself with a screwdriver. The man's mother called Vienna police, but Tammy Cogswell requested a sheriff's deputy to answer the call instead because of her previous experience, the lawsuit states.
When Pringle and officer Shuler arrived at the home, the woman denied the sergeant access to her home. When the sergeant advised the woman that was not an option, the woman allowed Shuler in.
Because a weapon was involved in the call, the lawsuit alleges the sergeant said both officers had to come in. The lawsuit states the situation had been diffused as the grandson no longer possessed the screwdriver and had calmed down.
When the sergeant called his supervisor for guidance, the lawsuit states he was told to wait for another unit. Despite this order, the two officers returned to the door to try to get the grandson to come outside, the lawsuit states, and they threatened to charge Tammy Cogswell with obstructing official business.
When deputies arrived, the Vienna officers told them they intended to gain access to the home and take Tammy Cogswell into custody, the lawsuit states. The woman was taken into custody, the lawsuit states, with the sergeant allegedly jerking her arms roughly, and transported to Trumbull County jail and charged with a fifth-degree obstruction felony, as well as a disrupting public services, a fourth-degree felony. The lawsuit states the woman spent a night in lockup.
CHARGE DISMISSED
A county grand jury heard the case and returned a reduced misdemeanor charge of obstruction of official business to the Girard Municipal Court. A trial was scheduled for Dec. 10, 2020, at which time the charge was dismissed and the woman ordered to pay court costs.
Because of these false charges, the lawsuit claims Tammy Cogswell was passed over for a full-time position and promotion at her job at Fairhaven schools and it eventually caused her to lose her job there.
The defendants are asking for full compensatory damages in excess of $25,000 and ask the court to award punitive damages for the defendants' "egregious, willful and malicious conduct."
The defendants' attorney, Andrea K. Ziarko of North Canton, did not respond to an attempt to contact her for comment.